Ob/Gyn resident self-perceived preparedness for minimally invasive surgery

Very little is known regarding the readiness of senior U.S. Ob/Gyn residents to perform minimally invasive surgery. This study aims to evaluate the self-perceived readiness of senior Ob/Gyn residents to perform complex minimally invasive gynecologic surgery as well as their perceptions of the minimally invasive gynecologic surgery subspecialty.

We performed a national survey study of 3rd and 4th year Ob/Gyn residents. A novel 58-item survey was developed and sent to residency program directors and coordinators with the request to forward the survey link along to their senior residents.

We received 158 survey responses with 84 (53.2%) responses coming from 4th year residents and 74 (46.8%) responses from 3rd year residents. Residents who train with graduates of a fellowship in minimally invasive gynecologic surgery felt significantly more prepared to perform minimally invasive surgery compared to residents without this exposure in their training. The majority of senior residents (71.5%) feel their residency training adequately prepared them to be a competent minimally invasive gynecologic surgeon. However, only 50% feel prepared to perform a laparoscopic hysterectomy on a uterus greater than 12 weeks size, 29% feel prepared to offer a vaginal hysterectomy on a uterus 12-week size or greater, 17% feel comfortable performing a laparoscopic myomectomy, and 12% feel prepared to offer a laparoscopic hysterectomy for a uterus above the umbilicus.

The majority of senior U.S. Ob/Gyn residents feel prepared to provide minimally invasive surgery for complex gynecologic cases. However, surgical confidence in specific procedures decreases when surgical complexity increases.